Plans to demolish Liberton High School gym

The gym hall at Liberton High School would be demolished under plans being considered by the City of Edinburgh Council tomorrow (Thursday 26 June 2014).

The Liberton
High School report reveals plans to demolish the existing gym hall and
extend the current building where the majority of PE facilities take place.

An existing
classroom would be altered to provide temporary dance studio facilities.

Councillor Paul
Godzik, Education Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “The
overwhelming view from staff at the school, parents and the local community is
that the gym should be demolished as soon as possible.

“The proposal is
that this will happen at the earliest opportunity, and assuming that the
necessary consents are in place, we hope this will be able to take place over
the summer break to minimise disruption to the school.

“The tragic
incident two months ago has obviously had a devastating effect on the local
community and we are determined to work with them and other partners to ensure
nothing similar can ever happen again.

“Discussions
about a suitable memorial at the school for Keane are continuing and we hope to
make an announcement in the near future.”

It is anticipated
that the cost of delivering replacement facilities would be around £2.5m.
Further information regarding costs and the sources of funding would be
presented to the Council in August.

An investigation
into the incident on 1 April 2014 is currently being carried out by the Health
and Safety Executive.